Introduction:
Create a diagram of the Earth’s four major layers with a couple of paper plates. Familiarize your child with the crust, mantle, and outer and inner cores. The activity is simple and enjoyable for the whole family.
Kids will love this paper plate Earth craft as it can rotate and show the different names of the layers of the earth.
Tools
- Pentel pen
- Black marker
- Scissors
- Brush
- Pencil
- Compass
- Paint
Supplies
- 2 Paper plates
- 6 Poster colors (Green, blue. Orange, Yellow, Red, and Brown)
- Split pin
Draw and Label the Layers of the Earth Paper Plate
Divide the paper plate into four layers as you see fit. Realistically, the inner core is the thickest followed by the mantle. And the crust is the thinnest.
Use a compass to draw three circles. It should look like the image above.
Paint yellow the innermost circle. Be careful not to paint the other layer. This would be the inner core.
Paint orange the next layer. This would be the outer core.
Paint bright red the next layer. This would be the mantle.
Finally use the brown poster paint to color the last layer of our paper plate earth craft.
Label the layers with a pentel pen or black marker.
Important: Notice the placement of the labels. Do not align them with each other.
With a pencil, make a small hole in the center of the plate.
Ready the Paper Plate Earth for Painting
Cut the paper as indicated by the dashed line. Please take note of the small bend that the line makes. This is important because a sample bag clip will be placed later on.
Your next step is to draw a few continents as you please.
Paint the Paper Earth Craft
After drawing, you should then get some green paint.
Paint the land with the color green.
Now get blue paint and color the oceans.
You should have a paper plate that looks the same from the one above. You may draw an outline on the islands to make it more defined.
Again, we will make a hole in the center. If the paper plates are stacked together the holes should align perfectly.
Attach the Two Paper Plates Together
Get a sample bag clip.
Insert the sample bag clip into the surface of the earth paper plate.
Stack them together while inserting the clip into the second paper plate.
The back of the craft should look like this.
Bend the fastener as shown in the image above
Hooray! You're paper plate earth craft is finished.
With the clip in placed, you can rotate the first plate to reveal the name of the other layers.
Extra Tips
- The earth paper plate craft is for kids and toddlers. But for the young ones it would take time to develop their motor function. To help them paint try putting tape on the areas you don't want to get painted.
- Wait for the paint to dry a bit before working with another color of paint.